Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Vera Bradley Misses Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.42 percent to 24,715.09 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.77 percent to 7,156.48. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.42 percent to 2,674.09.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the information technology shares climbed 1.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Aurora Mobile Ltd - ADR JG up 12 percent, and Mongodb Inc MDB up 8 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.1 percent.

Top Headline

Vera Bradley, Inc. VRA reported weaker-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Vera Bradley reported quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $97.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $101.7 million.

Vera Bradley expects Q4 earnings of $0.22 to $0.25 per share on sales of $114 million to $119 million. The company projects FY19 earnings of $0.57 to $0.60 per share, on sales of $412 million to $417 million.

Equities Trading UP

Astrotech Corp ASTC shares got a boost, shooting up 41 percent to $3.77 after the company's subsidiary, 1st Detect, announced its TRACER 1000 explosives trace detector passed the European Civil Aviation Conference's common evaluation conference.

Shares of Sparton Corporation SPA shot up 39 percent to $18.27 after the company agreed to be purchased by Cerberus at $18.50 per share in cash.

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. LX shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $7.61. LexinFintech projects limited impact from P2P regulations and lifted loan origination guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. NBIX shares dropped 22 percent to $67.31 after the company announced a Phase IIb study did not meet its primary endpoint in Tourette's Syndrome patients.

Shares of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. SGYP were down 66 percent to $0.1159 after the company initiated voluntary proceedings under Chapter 11 and announced Bausch Health will acquire its assets for $200 million in cash.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MRNS was down, falling around 12 percent to $4.50 after reporting an offering of 12 million shares of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.92 percent to $52.64 while gold traded up 0.29 percent to $1,250.80.

Silver traded up 1.14 percent Wednesday to $14.795, while copper rose 0.09 percent to $2.7695.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.31 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.66 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.89 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.27 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent increase.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for November will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.